So, summary is

You’re absolutely right about not needing to pay to learn skills…the internet is littered with tons of amazing resources…

However, paying for “certificates” is useful for employers, admission committees etc

Having said all that…Lol.

The job and educational markets are being seriously upended by AI and Agentic systems.

So many of these certificates aren’t even as useful as they used to be.

…not the learning or knowledge.

Online learning has been a huge part of my own journey. I completed over 50 really tough courses over the past few years on Coursera, Udacity etc.

I paid for many of the courses but at a discounted rate due to Coursera’s amazing financial aid program.

Why did I pay? Because I needed the certificates for various applications and to make my CV stand out.

To the learning itself, and the skills I gained…I can say that those 50+ courses have been the best education I’ve gotten solely from a value-cost perspective

..require proof or evidence that you have learned a skill or mastered a concept, and having that certificate is evidence of that

One might say that isn’t the evidence of learning a skill being able to use that skill to solve problems, like practically applying it? Well yes

But at the point of applying for jobs or graduate school, the easiest way for them to believe that you did the course or learned the skill etc is to see the certificate

So really, you’re paying for the certificate…